DOCSLIB.ORG

The Influence of Endogenous Testosterone and Exogenous Oxytocin on the Response to Baby Schema in the Female Brain

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Influence of Endogenous Testosterone and Exogenous Oxytocin on the Response to Baby Schema in the Female Brain The influence of endogenous testosterone and exogenous oxytocin on the response to baby schema in the female brain Dissertation Zur Erlangung der Würde des Doktors der Naturwissenschaften des Fachbereichs Biologie der Fakultät für Mathematik, Informatik und Naturwissenschaften Universität Hamburg vorgelegt von Sarah Katharina Charlotte Holtfrerich Hamburg, 2018 Gutachter der Dissertation: Prof. Jun. Dr. Esther K. Diekhof Prof. Dr. Christian Büchel Tag der Disputation: 31.07.2018 Content I. Abstract ...........................................................................................................................................- 1 - II. Zusammenfassung .........................................................................................................................- 3 - III. Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................- 5 - 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................- 6 - 1.1. The hormonal basis of reproduction and caretaking behavior ..............................................- 6 - 1.1.1. Oxytocin ..........................................................................................................................................- 8 - 1.1.1.1. The role of oxytocin in general nurturing behavior .................................................................- 8 - 1.1.1.2. The physiology of oxytocin ....................................................................................................... - 10 - 1.1.1.3. Oxytocin reception and pathways through the brain ............................................................ - 12 - 1.1.2. Testosterone ................................................................................................................................ - 13 - 1.1.2.1. The role of testosterone in general nurturing behavior ........................................................ - 13 - 1.1.2.2. The physiology of testosterone................................................................................................. - 14 - 1.1.2.3. Testosterone reception and pathways through the brain ..................................................... - 16 - 1.1.3. The interaction of oxytocin and testosterone in parental behavior .................................... - 17 - 1.2. Baby schema as a key stimulus for caretaking behavior ....................................................... - 20 - 1.3. Design and measures of the present studies ........................................................................... - 22 - 1.3.1. Study objective ............................................................................................................................ - 23 - 1.3.2. Measuring selective attention – A means to operationalize the influence of the baby schema on cognitive and neural processing .......................................................................................... - 24 - 1.3.3. Measuring brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging .............................. - 26 - 1.3.4. Salivary hormone measurements .............................................................................................. - 28 - 1.3.5. Hormonal intervention .............................................................................................................. - 29 - 1.3.6. Hypotheses of the behavioral study ......................................................................................... - 30 - 1.3.7. Hypotheses of the fMRI study ................................................................................................. - 31 - 2. Publications .................................................................................................................................. - 32 - 2.1. Publication I ................................................................................................................................. - 32 - 2.2. Publication II ............................................................................................................................... - 52 - 2.2.1. Supplementary material and methods of Publication II ....................................................... - 63 - 3. Discussion .................................................................................................................................... - 73 - 3.1. The endocrinology of caretaking behavior ............................................................................. - 74 - 3.1.1. Influences of testosterone on caretaking behavior ................................................................ - 75 - 3.1.2. Influences of oxytocin on caretaking behavior ...................................................................... - 77 - 3.1.3. Interaction of oxytocin and testosterone in the modulation of caretaking behavior....... - 79 - 3.2. The neuroendocrinology of the processing of infant faces ................................................. - 83 - 3.2.1. Baby schema as a key stimulus motivates action in the female brain ................................. - 83 - 3.2.2. The interaction of testosterone and oxytocin in the processing of infant faces in the female brain .............................................................................................................................................. - 86 - 3.2.3. Other possible neuroendocrine interactions in the modulation of general nurturing behavior ........................................................................................................................................ - 88 - 3.2.4. Transferability of the results to other subjects ....................................................................... - 90 - 3.3. Evidence for hormonal interactions in the response to infant faces .................................. - 91 - 3.4. Evolutionary relevance of the findings ................................................................................... - 93 - 3.5. Clinical relevance of the findings ............................................................................................. - 94 - 3.6. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... - 96 - 3.7. Outlook ........................................................................................................................................ - 97 - 4. References .................................................................................................................................... - 99 - 5. Figure Index ............................................................................................................................... - 116 - 6. Table Index ................................................................................................................................ - 116 - 7. Publications ................................................................................................................................ - 117 - 8. Eidesstattliche Versicherung ................................................................................................... - 118 - 9. Danksagung ............................................................................................................................... - 119 - I. Abstract I. Abstract The neuropeptide oxytocin is well known for its crucial role in childbirth and bonding. It seems to influence caretaking behaviors by modulating complex neuroendocrine reward systems. Contrary to oxytocin, high concentrations of the steroid hormone testosterone seem to antagonize caretaking behaviors. Whereas high testosterone concentrations were associated with competitive and defensive behaviors, low testosterone concentrations may support caretaking behaviors. For instance, the decrease of testosterone in new mothers and fathers is thought to be adaptive to promote parental care, while a decrease of oxytocin in new mothers was associated with postpartum depression risk. Interestingly, some behavioral effects of oxytocin may be steroid hormone dependent. Equally, oxytocin seems to modulate different steroid dependent reproductive functions like erection, ejaculation, orgasm, labor induction and lactation in mammals. Reproductive success in mammals greatly depends on the caretaking effort of the parents or alloparents. A lack of caretaking behavior would probably result in neglect which could further cause the death of the vulnerable offspring. Therefore it may be adaptive that infants wear a key stimulus in the face that automatically elicits caretaking behavior in adults: the baby schema. Besides parental care, different kinds of mammals (especially primates) show alloparental care. Therefore it is likely that not only hormones involved in pregnancy and lactation influence maternal behavior, but that a neuroendocrine mechanism may be involved in the regulation of caretaking behavior in general. By reason of their important impact on reproduction and their inverse influences on caretaking behaviors it was the aim of this doctoral thesis to investigate the modulatory influence of testosterone and oxytocin on the processing of and the sensitivity for the baby schema and how both hormones interact in the modulation of a basic aspect of caretaking behavior, selective attention towards infants. For this, I used a combination of different established methods to investigate
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Beyond the Baby Brain Moving Towards a Better Understanding Of
    Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology 54 (2019) 100767 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/yfrne Editorial Beyond the baby brain: Moving towards a better understanding of the parental brain and T behavior This Special Issue of Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology features a col- normal, non-challenging conditions and the specific factors involved in lection of reviews submitted following the Parental Brain Conference, the adjustments of neuronal networks in preparation for motherhood. held in Toronto, Canada July 13–14, 2018. In keeping with the purpose Most research to date has focused on hormones such as estrogens, of the meeting, the articles in this Issue discuss various topics related to progesterone, oxytocin and prolactin but in recent years, several novel the neural consequences of pregnancy and parenting, mechanisms of players have been uncovered including insulin-like growth factor-1 caregiving behavior as well as parental physical and psychological (IGF-1) as reviewed by Dobolyi and Lékó (2019).InPawluski et al. health. (2019), the underappreciated role of serotonin in the maternal brain Parental care, most often exhibited as maternal care, is essential for and behavior is discussed. They also explore the issue of selective ser- proper offspring development (Bowlby, 1950; Meyer et al., 1975). Be- otonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) medication use on the maternal brain cause of this, the neurobiological mechanisms of mothering, as well as and behavior, rather than the effects of SSRIs on the offspring as is the conditions under which they are impaired or fail, are topics of great usually the case. Klampfl and Bosch (2019) present an overview of the interest and importance.
    [Show full text]
  • Specific Maternal Brain Responses to Their Own Child's Face
    HHS Public Access Author manuscript Author ManuscriptAuthor Manuscript Author Dev Rev Manuscript Author . Author manuscript; Manuscript Author available in PMC 2020 March 01. Published in final edited form as: Dev Rev. 2019 March ; 51: 58–69. doi:10.1016/j.dr.2018.12.001. Specific maternal brain responses to their own child’s face: An fMRI meta-analysis Paola Rigoa,b,e,*, Pilyoung Kimc, Gianluca Espositod,e, Diane L. Putnicka, Paola Venutid, and Marc H. Bornsteina,f aEunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA bDepartment of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy cDepartment of Psychology, University of Denver, 2155 South Race Street, Denver, CO 80208-3500 dDepartment of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Trento, Italy eDivision of Psychology, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore fInstitute for Fiscal Studies, London, UK Keywords Maternal Brain; Own Child; Infant Face; Left Hemisphere; fMRI; Meta-Analysis 1. Introduction Child-caregiver attunement reflects the warm and sensitive dyadic relationship that is essential to adaptive and healthy development in children. Attunement requires constant adaptation by both partners in the dyad, in which mother and child act as agents in shaping the dynamics of their mutual interactions (Bornstein, 2013). Starting in pregnancy, maternal- child attunement operates at different levels. Changes in mothers occur in the central nervous system (Kim et al., 2011) and in adjustment at hormonal (Feldman, 2012) and behavioral levels (Bornstein, 2012). Maternal adjustment at all levels is directed towards a *Address correspondence to: *Paola Rigo, Ph.D., Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH 6555 Rock Spring Drive, Suite 220, Bethesda, MD 20817 USA, [email protected], Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padova, Italy, Phone: +39 0498276548, paola.rigo.
    [Show full text]
  • Parent–Child Intervention Decreases Stress and Increases Maternal Brain Activity and Connectivity During Own Baby-Cry: an Exploratory Study
    Development and Psychopathology 29 (2017), 535–553 # Cambridge University Press 2017 doi:10.1017/S0954579417000165 Parent–child intervention decreases stress and increases maternal brain activity and connectivity during own baby-cry: An exploratory study JAMES E. SWAIN,a–c S. SHAUN HO,a KATHERINE L. ROSENBLUM,b DIANA MORELEN,d e b CAROLYN J. DAYTON, AND MARIA MUZIK aStony Brook University Medical Center; bUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor; cYale University; dEast Tennessee State University; and eWayne State University Abstract Parental responses to their children are crucially influenced by stress. However, brain-based mechanistic understanding of the adverse effects of parenting stress and benefits of therapeutic interventions is lacking. We studied maternal brain responses to salient child signals as a function of Mom Power (MP), an attachment-based parenting intervention established to decrease maternal distress. Twenty-nine mothers underwent two functional magnetic resonance imaging brain scans during a baby-cry task designed to solicit maternal responses to child’s or self’s distress signals. Between scans, mothers were pseudorandomly assigned to either MP (n ¼ 14) or control (n ¼ 15) with groups balanced for depression. Compared to control, MP decreased parenting stress and increased child-focused responses in social brain areas highlighted by the precuneus and its functional connectivity with subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, which are key components of reflective self-awareness and decision-making neurocircuitry. Furthermore, over 13 weeks, reduction in parenting stress was related to increasing child- versus self-focused baby-cry responses in amygdala–temporal pole functional connectivity, which may mediate maternal ability to take her child’s perspective.
    [Show full text]
  • CD38 in the Nucleus Accumbens and Oxytocin Are Related to Paternal
    Akther et al. Molecular Brain 2013, 6:41 http://www.molecularbrain.com/content/6/1/41 RESEARCH Open Access CD38 in the nucleus accumbens and oxytocin are related to paternal behavior in mice Shirin Akther1,2, Natalia Korshnova1, Jing Zhong1,2, Mingkun Liang1,2, Stanislav M Cherepanov1,3, Olga Lopatina1,3, Yulia K Komleva1,3, Alla B Salmina1,3, Tomoko Nishimura1, Azam AKM Fakhrul1, Hirokazu Hirai4, Ichiro Kato5, Yasuhiko Yamamoto6, Shin Takasawa7, Hiroshi Okamoto8 and Haruhiro Higashida1,3* Abstract Background: Mammalian sires participate in infant care. We previously demonstrated that sires of a strain of nonmonogamous laboratory mice initiate parental retrieval behavior in response to olfactory and auditory signals from the dam during isolation in a new environment. This behavior is rapidly lost in the absence of such signals when the sires are caged alone. The neural circuitry and hormones that control paternal behavior are not well- understood. CD38, a membrane glycoprotein, catalyzes synthesis of cyclic ADP-ribose and facilitates oxytocin (OT) secretion due to cyclic ADP-ribose-dependent increases in cytosolic free calcium concentrations in oxytocinergic neurons in the hypothalamus. In this paper, we studied CD38 in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and the role of OT on paternal pup retrieval behavior using CD38 knockout (CD38−/−) mice of the ICR strain. Results: CD38−/− sires failed to retrieve when they were reunited with their pups after isolation together with the mate dams, but not with pup, in a novel cage for 10 min. CD38−/− sires treated with a single subcutaneous injection of OT exhibited recovery in the retrieval events when caged with CD38−/− dams treated with OT.
    [Show full text]
  • Neuroplasticity in the Maternal Hippocampus: Relation to Cognition and Effects of Repeated Stress Jodi L
    Neuroplasticity in the maternal hippocampus: Relation to cognition and effects of repeated stress Jodi L. Pawluski, Kelly G. Lambert, Craig H Kinsley To cite this version: Jodi L. Pawluski, Kelly G. Lambert, Craig H Kinsley. Neuroplasticity in the maternal hippocampus: Relation to cognition and effects of repeated stress. Hormones and Behavior, Elsevier, 2016,77, pp.86-97. 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2015.06.004. hal-01169791 HAL Id: hal-01169791 https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01169791 Submitted on 22 Sep 2015 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 1 NEUROPLASTICITY IN THE MATERNAL HIPPOCAMPUS: RELATION TO COGNITION AND EFFECTS OF REPEATED STRESS Jodi L. Pawluski* 1, Kelly G. Lambert* 2, Craig H. Kinsley*3 *All authors contributed equally 1University of Rennes 1, IRSET-INSERM U1085, Campus Beaulieu, Rennes Cedex, FRANCE. Email address : [email protected] 2Department of Psychology, Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Virginia 23005, USA. Email address: [email protected] 3Department of Psychology, Center for Neuroscience, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA 23173, USA. Email address: [email protected]. Corresponding author: Jodi L. Pawluski, PhD, University of Rennes 1, IRSET-INSERM U1085, Campus Beaulieu Bat 13, Room 135/2ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 35042 Rennes Cedex FRANCE Phone: +33(0)2 23.23.41.90 Email address: [email protected] ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 2 Abstract It is becoming clear that the female brain has an inherent plasticity that is expressed during reproduction.
    [Show full text]
  • A Review of Human Fathers' Fmri Brain Responses to Child-Related
    brain sciences Systematic Review The Paternal Brain in Action: A Review of Human Fathers’ fMRI Brain Responses to Child-Related Stimuli Livio Provenzi 1,* , Johanna Lindstedt 2 , Kris De Coen 3 , Linda Gasparini 4, Denis Peruzzo 5, Serena Grumi 1 , Filippo Arrigoni 5 and Sari Ahlqvist-Björkroth 2 1 Child Psychiatry and Neurology Unit, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, 27100 Pavia, Italy; [email protected] 2 Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Turku, 20500 Turku, Finland; johmat@utu.fi (J.L.); sarahl@utu.fi (S.A.-B.) 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Department, University Hospital of Ghent, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; [email protected] 4 Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, Università di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy; [email protected] 5 Neuroimaging Lab, Scientific Institute IRCCS E. Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy; [email protected] (D.P.); fi[email protected] (F.A.) * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +39-0382-380287 Abstract: As fathers are increasingly involved in childcare, understanding the neurological underpin- nings of fathering has become a key research issue in developmental psychobiology research. This systematic review specifically focused on (1) highlighting methodological issues of paternal brain research using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and (2) summarizing findings related Citation: Provenzi, L.; Lindstedt, J.; to paternal brain responses to auditory and visual infant stimuli. Sixteen papers were included from De Coen, K.; Gasparini, L.; Peruzzo, 157 retrieved records. Sample characteristics (e.g., fathers’ and infant’s age, number of kids, and time D.; Grumi, S.; Arrigoni, F.; spent caregiving), neuroimaging information (e.g., technique, task, stimuli, and processing), and main Ahlqvist-Björkroth, S.
    [Show full text]
  • Fatherts Brain Is Sensitive to Childcare Experiences
    Father’s brain is sensitive to childcare experiences Eyal Abrahama, Talma Hendlerb,c, Irit Shapira-Lichterb,d, Yaniv Kanat-Maymone, Orna Zagoory-Sharona, and Ruth Feldmana,1 aDepartment of Psychology and the Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel; bFunctional Brain Center, Wohl Institute of Advanced Imaging, and dFunctional Neurosurgery Unit, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Center, Tel Aviv 64239, Israel; cSchool of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel; and eSchool of Psychology, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzlia 46346, Israel Edited by Michael I. Posner, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, and approved May 1, 2014 (received for review February 11, 2014) Although contemporary socio-cultural changes dramatically in- that maximize survival (2, 9). Animal studies have demonstrated creased fathers’ involvement in childrearing, little is known about that mammalian mothering is supported by evolutionarily an- the brain basis of human fatherhood, its comparability with the cient structures implicated in emotional processing, vigilance, maternal brain, and its sensitivity to caregiving experiences. We motivation, and reward, which are rich in oxytocin receptors, measured parental brain response to infant stimuli using func- including the amygdala, hypothalamus, nucleus accumbens, and tional MRI, oxytocin, and parenting behavior in three groups of ventral tegmental area (VTA), and that these regions are sen- parents (n = 89) raising their firstborn infant: heterosexual primary- sitive to caregiving behavior (9, 10). Imaging studies of human caregiving mothers (PC-Mothers), heterosexual secondary-caregiving mothers found activation in similar areas, combined with para- fathers (SC-Fathers), and primary-caregiving homosexual fathers limbic insula-cingulate structures that imbue infants with affec- tive salience, ground experience in the present moment and (PC-Fathers) rearing infants without maternal involvement.
    [Show full text]
  • Intuitive Parenting: Understanding the Neural Mechanisms of Parents
    Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Intuitive parenting: understanding the neural mechanisms of parents’ adaptive responses to infants 1,2 2,4 2,5 Christine E Parsons , Katherine S Young , Alan Stein and 2,3 Morten L Kringelbach When interacting with an infant, parents intuitively enact a interactions between parent and infant. A typical range of behaviours that support infant communicative sequence occurs: parents establish a face-to-face posi- development. These behaviours include altering speech, tion and use rhythmic speech, simplified syntax and establishing eye contact and mirroring infant expressions and exaggerated pitch contours to establish eye contact. If are argued to occur largely in the absence of conscious intent. eye contact is established, the ‘greeting response’ can Here, we describe studies investigating early, pre-conscious frequently be observed. This begins with a bending neural responses to infant cues, which we suggest support backwards of the parent’s head, raised eyebrows and aspects of parental intuitive behaviour towards infants. This widely opened eyes, frequently followed by a smile work has provided converging evidence for rapid differentiation [3]. Parents stay in the centre of the infant’s visual of infant cues from other salient social signals in the adult brain. field at exactly the infant’s focal distance, and maintain In particular, the orbitofrontal cortex may be important in eye contact [1]. Throughout interactions, parents mir- supporting quick orienting responses and privileged ror the infant’s facial expressions, vocalisations and processing of infant cues, processes fundamental to intuitive even feeding movements, often expanding the original parenting behaviour. communication to include other cues.
    [Show full text]
  • Sensitive Fathering Buffers the Effects of Chronic Maternal Depression on Child Psychopathology
    Child Psychiatry & Human Development https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-018-0795-7 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Sensitive Fathering Buffers the Effects of Chronic Maternal Depression on Child Psychopathology Adam Vakrat1 · Yael Apter‑Levy1 · Ruth Feldman2 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract Maternal depression across the first years of life carries long-term negative consequences for children’s well-being; yet, few studies focused on fathers as potential source of resilience in the context of chronic maternal depression. Utilizing an extreme-case design, a community birth cohort of married/cohabitating mothers (N = 1983) with no comorbid risk was repeatedly tested for maternal depression across the first year and again at 6 years, leading to two matched cohorts; 46 moth- ers with chronic depression and 103 non-depressed controls. At 6 years, mother and child underwent psychiatric diagnosis and mother–child and father–child interactions observed. Partners of depressed mothers exhibited reduced sensitivity, lower reciprocity, and higher tension during interactions, particularly among children with psychopathology. Maternal depression increased child propensity to display Axis-I disorder upon school-entry by fourfold. Sensitive fathering reduced this risk by half. Findings underscore the father’s resilience-promoting role in cases of maternal depression and emphasize the need for father-focused interventions. Keywords Maternal depression · Fatherhood · Parent–child interaction · Longitudinal studies · Child psychopathology
    [Show full text]
  • The Nemo Real-Time Fmri Neurofeedback Study: Protocol of a Randomised Controlled Clinical Intervention Trial in the Neural Foundations of Mother–Infant Bonding
    Open access Protocol BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-027747 on 16 July 2019. Downloaded from The NeMo real-time fMRI neurofeedback study: protocol of a randomised controlled clinical intervention trial in the neural foundations of mother–infant bonding Monika Eckstein,1 Anna-Lena Zietlow,1 Martin Fungisai Gerchen,2,3 Mike Michael Schmitgen,4 Sarah Ashcroft-Jones,1 Peter Kirsch,2,3 Beate Ditzen1 To cite: Eckstein M, ABSTRACT Strengths and limitations of this study Zietlow A-L, Gerchen MF, et al. Introduction Most mothers feel an immediate, The NeMo real-time fMRI strong emotional bond with their newborn. On a ► The novelty of used methods allows the investiga- neurofeedback study: protocol neurobiological level, this is accompanied with the of a randomised controlled tion of the effect of real-time functional MRI (rtfMRI) activation of the brain reward systems, including the clinical intervention trial in the neurofeedback (NFB) on maternal bonding. striatum. However, approximately 10% of all mothers neural foundations of mother– ► The study investigates the ability of rtfMRI-NFB report difficulties to bond emotionally with their infant bonding. BMJ Open to upregulate brain activity in correlation with be- 2019;9:e027747. doi:10.1136/ infant and display impaired reward responses to the havioural and biopsychological markers. bmjopen-2018-027747 interaction with their infant which might have long- ► The simultaneous investigation of two brain regions term negative effects for the child’s development. As ► Prepublication history for as well as the presence of a control group proposed this paper is available online. previous studies suggest that activation of the striatal in the methods of this protocol enables a compara- To view these files, please visit reward system can be regulated through functional tive analysis of the benefits of the rtfMRI training, as the journal online (http:// dx.
    [Show full text]
  • The Adaptive Human Parental Brain
    Review The adaptive human parental brain: implications for children’s social development 1,2 Ruth Feldman 1 Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Center, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel 2 Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CO, USA Although interest in the neurobiology of parent–infant basis of human parental care is a recent area of inquiry, bonding is a century old, neuroimaging of the human with most imaging studies appearing over the past 5 years, parental brain is recent. After summarizing current com- thus calling for an integrative perspective on the human parative research into the neurobiology of parenting, parental brain. here I chart a global ‘parental caregiving’ network that Whereas several recent reviews ([1,18,19], but see also integrates conserved structures supporting mammalian [20]) discussed the neurobiology of parenting from the caregiving with later-evolving networks and implicates animal research perspective, this review is human cen- parenting in the evolution of higher order social func- tered, focusing on the interface between conserved and tions aimed at maximizing infant survival. The response human-specific components and addressing long-term of the parental brain to bonding-related behavior and effects of parental care on infant social development in hormones, particularly oxytocin, and increased postpar- light of human infants’ protracted dependence and the tum brain plasticity demonstrate adaptation to infant extreme immaturity at birth of the human brain stimuli, childrearing experiences, and cultural contexts. [21]. Three questions are addressed: (i) What is currently Mechanisms of biobehavioral synchrony by which the known about the brain networks that appear to support parental brain shapes, and is shaped by, infant physiol- human parental care, their modulation by parenting- ogy and behavior emphasize the brain basis of caregiv- related hormones, and their sensitivity to multiple par- ing for the cross-generation transmission of human enting determinants? (ii) What real-world implications do sociality.
    [Show full text]
  • How a New Father's Brain Changes
    master Gland Psychiatry and Psychology Bokulić E, Mikulec S. How a new father’s brain changes. pp. 107 – 111 hoW a NeW faTher’s braiN chaNGes Ema Bokulić University of Zagreb, School of Medicine 0000-0002-5732-7560 Sonja Mikulec University of Zagreb, School of Medicine 0000-0002-6192-1554 Abstract The specificity of human species is prolonged care for their infants which involves parents of both sexes. Fathers provide ‘stimulatory’ contact to their infants making them explore their surrounding and become more independent, unlike mothers who provide nurture and affectionate care. Neuroimaging studies suggest that paternal care is associ- ated with higher activity in cortical structures that are a part of the social brain - empathy, mentalizing and executive network (cognitive control) and mirror neuron system. Behavioural changes mediated by various hormones also serve as an adaptation to the new role of being a father. Oxytocin, testosterone and prolactin altogether help fathers to establish an emotional bond with their infant, directing their efforts towards paternal childcare, ensuring that the infant gets the best possible environment for growth and development. To support this, the mating effort of fathers decreases, along with responses to sexually provocative stimuli. However, these studies should be reproduced on a KeylargerWor sampleDs: and should consider complex interactions between hormones and neurotransmitters. hormones, mating effort, neuroimaging, neuroplasticity, parental behaviour, paternal behaviour, THE ROLE OF social FATHERS brain IN HUMAN SPECIES neuron system (inferior parental lobule (iPl), inferior (frontal gyrus (IFG) and supplementary motor area (sMa)), Human infants are, among all other species in the animal mentalizing network (superior temporal sulcus/gyrus kingdom, the ones in need of nurture for the longest STS/STG), precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex (Pcc), time.
    [Show full text]